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N.J. woman sentenced in scheme to send defense drawings to India
A North Brunswick woman was sentenced Thursday for illegally sending military technical information to India. An indictment also says a manufacturer she co-owned in India produced wing pins for F-15 fighter planes that failed, forcing 47 of the aircraft to be grounded. (Frances Micklow | The Star-Ledger)
TRENTON — A 50-year-old North Brunswick woman was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison for conspiring to send sensitive military technical information to India, U.S. Attorney Paul J.. Fishman announced.
Hannah Robert pleaded guilty last April to one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton. Thompson Thursday sentenced her to 57 months in prison.
Until late 2012, Robert operated a defense supply company, One Source USA, out of a residence in Mount Laurel Township, an indictment says.
Robert, who also co-owned a plant that manufactured defense hardware items in India, worked with a co-conspirator to send drawings and technical information to India without approval from the State Department, it said.
Secretly using a computer at a Camden County church where she volunteered,Robert uploaded "thousands" of technical drawings about parts for, among other things, torpedo systems in nuclear submarines, military attack helicopters and F-15 fighters to India without State Department approvals, the indictment said.
The information was used not only to produce materials for the U.S. Defense Department, the company in India also bid on defense contracts for other nations, including the United Arab Emirates, the indictment said. In other cases, information was sent to facilitate bids for products destined for customers in Pakistan and Indonesia, it said.
In addition to sending the technical information to an Indian co-conspirator, Robert bid on defense contracts in the U.S. claiming they were made domestically, but in fact were made in the plant she co-owned in India, the indictment says.
In at least one case, the indictment says, the items her company supplied failed. Pins used to attach the F-15's wings to its fuselage were not made with the proper materials, forcing the military to ground 47 F-15 fighter aircraft, the indictment says.
Woman gets 5 years for $7M HHS fraud
The grounding cost taxpayers more than $150,000, Fishman's office said.
Robert and the co-conspirator in India provided false certifications and inspection reports for the parts to cover up the scheme, the indictment said.
"Hannah Robert circumvented the U.S. government and provided export-controlled technical data related to various types of military technology to an individual in India," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin. "We will vigorously prosecute and bring to justice those who abuse their access to sensitive defense information and violate the Arms Export Control Act."
Robert will serve three years of supervised release after her prison term and was ordered by Thompson to pay $181,015 in restitution.
Fishman credited special agents of the Defense Department's Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Counter Proliferation Investigations, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.
@Dark Soul @Illusive @LETHALFORCE @sob @Gessler
A North Brunswick woman was sentenced Thursday for illegally sending military technical information to India. An indictment also says a manufacturer she co-owned in India produced wing pins for F-15 fighter planes that failed, forcing 47 of the aircraft to be grounded. (Frances Micklow | The Star-Ledger)
TRENTON — A 50-year-old North Brunswick woman was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison for conspiring to send sensitive military technical information to India, U.S. Attorney Paul J.. Fishman announced.
Hannah Robert pleaded guilty last April to one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton. Thompson Thursday sentenced her to 57 months in prison.
Until late 2012, Robert operated a defense supply company, One Source USA, out of a residence in Mount Laurel Township, an indictment says.
Robert, who also co-owned a plant that manufactured defense hardware items in India, worked with a co-conspirator to send drawings and technical information to India without approval from the State Department, it said.
Secretly using a computer at a Camden County church where she volunteered,Robert uploaded "thousands" of technical drawings about parts for, among other things, torpedo systems in nuclear submarines, military attack helicopters and F-15 fighters to India without State Department approvals, the indictment said.
The information was used not only to produce materials for the U.S. Defense Department, the company in India also bid on defense contracts for other nations, including the United Arab Emirates, the indictment said. In other cases, information was sent to facilitate bids for products destined for customers in Pakistan and Indonesia, it said.
In addition to sending the technical information to an Indian co-conspirator, Robert bid on defense contracts in the U.S. claiming they were made domestically, but in fact were made in the plant she co-owned in India, the indictment says.
In at least one case, the indictment says, the items her company supplied failed. Pins used to attach the F-15's wings to its fuselage were not made with the proper materials, forcing the military to ground 47 F-15 fighter aircraft, the indictment says.
Woman gets 5 years for $7M HHS fraud
The grounding cost taxpayers more than $150,000, Fishman's office said.
Robert and the co-conspirator in India provided false certifications and inspection reports for the parts to cover up the scheme, the indictment said.
"Hannah Robert circumvented the U.S. government and provided export-controlled technical data related to various types of military technology to an individual in India," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin. "We will vigorously prosecute and bring to justice those who abuse their access to sensitive defense information and violate the Arms Export Control Act."
Robert will serve three years of supervised release after her prison term and was ordered by Thompson to pay $181,015 in restitution.
Fishman credited special agents of the Defense Department's Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Counter Proliferation Investigations, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.
@Dark Soul @Illusive @LETHALFORCE @sob @Gessler
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